234 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
place by the pole, ready to have the collar fastened 
about his neck; but the gray was missing. They 
looked in his stall, but it was vacant; “neither hide 
nor hair of him ” could be found, and it seemed clear 
that the animal had been stolen by some bold thief. 
Presently, however, a horse was heard moving about 
in the adjoining house, and it proved to be one be- 
longing to the chemical engine, which had already 
gone to the fire. He was of course immediately put 
in the place of the missing beast, and the engine 
finally got under way. The fact was, that when the 
alarm sounded, and the doors of the stable flew open, 
the gray had gone to his old place on the chemical 
engine, and pushed aside the horse already standing 
there, who, finding that he was not wanted, returned 
to his stall. The men, in the hurry of the moment, 
harnessed such animals as offered themselves, and 
were off without discovering the mistake. 
There is a reason why ladder truck horses should 
be taller than engine horses: the apparatus which 
they draw is at a much higher level from the ground 
than is the bulk of an engine, and consequently a 
low-standing animal would waste part of his efforts 
in pulling downward instead of pulling forward. 
Some ladder truck horses are shaped in one impor- 
tant respect like Maud §., Sunol, and other fast trot- 
ters and runners, namely, higher at the rump than 
at the withers, and with long hind legs. This is not 
considered a good conformation for a cart horse; but 
it seems to answer well where, as in the case of a 
ladder truck, horses are required which have height 
and speed as well as strength. 
Such being the kind of horse needed for fire en- 
